FLW Tour pro Bryan Schmitt of Deale, Maryland, won Saturday’s T-H Marine FLW Bass Fishing League (BFL) tournament on Lake Champlain presented by Navionics after catching five bass weighing 19 pounds, 10 ounces. For his win, Schmitt earned $7,209 and 250 points in the Northeast Division presented by Gajo Baits standings. The winner of the division’s Angler of the Year title after five tournaments will win $3,000.
Schmitt spent the tournament fishing the north end of the lake in Malletts Bay. He says he ended up weighing a mixed limit – three largemouth and two smallmouth.
“I just ran and checked a lot of stuff that I fished in the Tour event, and a lot of it had gotten better,” says Schmitt, who notched his fifth win in BFL competition. “During the tournament I hit eight spots – I would catch a few on each place and kept it moving.
“I ran some topwater early on some points for smallmouth and got one really good one – a heavy 3-pounder, and then I was just running. They’re heavy on bluegills right now. I was fishing real shallow, inside grass, docks, that kind of thing. There was mixed species up shallow and I would just kind of fancast a Neko rig all around those areas.”
Schmitt’s topwater fish came in on a Bone-colored Heddon Zara Spook. On his Neko rig, he used a green-pumpkin-colored Missile Baits 48 stickbait worm with a 1/0-sized Hayabusa Spin Muscle Guard hook.
“I caught another smallmouth on the Neko rig, just kind of aimlessly fishing some sparse weeds in like 5 to 6 feet of water – I consider it a pretty lucky bite. My game was bluegill largies, though,” says Schmitt. “The key was super light 8-pound-test P-Line Ultimate Fluorocarbon line – the water is clean up there, so long casts and light line was important.”
The top 10 boaters:
1st: Bryan Schmitt, Deale, Md., five bass, 19-10, $5,209 + $2,000 Ranger Cup Bonus
2nd: Brent Heyn, South Hero, Vt., five bass, 18-12, $2,105
3rd: Cameron Chase, Conway, Mass., five bass, 18-6, $1,886
4th: Joe Zombek II, Scranton, Pa., five bass, 18-3, $935
5th: Andrew Bechard, Champlain, N.Y., five bass, 17-15, $768
5th: Troy Morrow, Eastanollee, Ga., five bass, 17-15, $768
7th: Tom Balachvili, Scarsdale, N.Y., five bass, 17-8, $934
7th: Adam Poplaski, Adams, Mass., five bass, 17-8, $634
9th: Andrew Heivly, Malvern, Pa., five bass, 17-4, $785
10th: David Wilder, Middle River, Md., five bass, 17-2, $468
Complete results can be found at FLWFishing.com.
Chase caught a 5-pound, 9-ounce bass – the heaviest of the event in the Boater Division – and earned the day’s Boater Big Bass award of $550.
Dellinger wins co-angler title
Thomas Dellinger of Womelsdorf, Pennsylvania, won the Co-angler Division and $2,005 Saturday after catching five bass weighing 16 pounds, 5 ounces.
The top 10 co-anglers:
1st: Thomas Dellinger, Womelsdorf, Pa., five bass, 16-5, $2,005
2nd: Chad Dorney, Macungie, Pa., five bass, 16-0, $1,002
3rd: Bradley Petrie, Johnstown, N.Y., five bass, 15-12, $868
4th: Tony Bellissimo, Chelmsford, Mass., five bass, 15-11, $468
5th: Casey Gut, Chichester, N.H., five bass, 14-14, $451
6th: Henry McKee, Haddon Heights, N.J., five bass, 14-6, $518
7th: Alexandre Jelev, Petawawa, Ontario, Canada, five bass, 14-5, $334
8th: Chris Sanno, Shermans Dale, Pa., five bass, 14-3, $267
8th: Mark Bilodeau, Burlington, Vt., five bass, 14-3, $267
8th: John Henning, Lansdale, Pa., five bass, 14-3, $267
Robert Wedding of Welcome, Maryland, caught the heaviest bass in the Co-angler Division, a fish weighing in at 5 pounds, 2 ounces. The catch earned him the day’s Co-angler Big Bass award of $275.
The tournament was hosted by the City of Plattsburgh and the Adirondack Coast Visitors Bureau.
The top 45 boaters and co-anglers in the region based on point standings, along with the five winners in each qualifying event, will be entered in the Oct. 17-19 BFL Regional Championship on the Potomac River in Marbury, Maryland. Boaters will compete for a top award of a Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard and $20,000, while co-anglers will fish for a new Ranger Z518L with a 200-horsepower outboard.